Monday, 21 March 2016

Queens College Lagos teacher Olaseni Osifala in students abuse scandal

Scandal of Queens College Lagos teacher who allegedly molested students.

There is something really sick and disheartening going on at the famous Queens College Lagos,Nigeria.A teacher has been accused of molesting the school girls.Now ordinarily,i will take a story like this with a pinch of salt,but one picture in particular got me so worried.The accused teacher Olaseni Osifala was seen posing for a picture with a bunch of school girls.The pose and familiarity in that picture is very worrying and uncompromising.No way should a male teacher be seen in a position like that with under

age school girls.One of the girls in particular could not have been more than 13 or 14.

What kind of familiarity is there between a male school teacher and his under age female students that they would take such a picture like it was with their "toasters"?

If i saw my 13 year old daughter take a picture like that with her teacher,i would be very alarmed.

Another worrying thing is,the headmistress of Queens College Lagos seems to have the back of the teacher more than the little girls she is supposed to be in charge of.She refuses to believe that Mr Olaseni Oshifala could be abusing those girls or anything similar.Now ,she admits there has been rumours in the past that have constantly come up,should that not be alarm bells? Why would there be constant rumours about a teacher abusing or molesting his students?

She then said if it were true,the girls would have talked,so if they did not,how did the rumours surface then?

A young girl's parent blew the latest alarm.Why would she lie?

But the most annoying and worrying part of the whole thing is that the Queens College Lagos authorities allowed these young school girls to carry placards and protest defending this man.Those placards were obviously contrived cos the same person wrote all the headlines.Should young girls like these be allowed and used like this in such a propaganda? It is a bloody disgrace and i hope the state government gets involved and does a thorough investigation.Heads must surely roll,and i strongly suspect that of Olaseni Oshifala will be the first to roll.

The management of Queens College, Lagos, has thrown its weight behind one of its teachers accused of sexually assaulting a female student.

Olaseni Oshifala‎, a Biology teacher, was purportedly accused by a parent, Chinenye Okoye, of forcefully trying to kiss and touch the privates of her daughter, a JSS 2 pupil.

According to Mrs. Okoye‎, the teacher cornered her daughter on her way back from relieving herself just before lights out and assaulted her.

“She started screaming and then students started coming out so he left her and pretended to punish her,” she added.Mrs Okeke went on... "she called me late at night and she was crying bitterly. I could barely hear what she was saying until after I had calmed her down. Me myself I was scared, wondering what had happened. She told me then that this same Mr Oshifala, who by the way, lives in the boarding house ares, had cornered her on her way back from easing herself just before lights out. She told me that he called her and she thought he wanted to punish her for leaving her dorm room when it was almost lights out. But when she got closer to him, he was smelling of alcohol and she ran away from him. But he ran after her and grabbed her and tried to kiss her while touching her privates. She started screaming and then students started coming out so he left her and pretended to punish her. But the students already know his ways so they started booing him until the housemistress came out and chased them inside, telling them to be quiet and that nothing was actually going on. I told my daughter to calm down and prayed with her and I told her not to leave her dorm room unless with another student.I got to the school first thing the next day and spoke with the housemistress who confirmed to me that the story was true. but she warned me that the Mr Oshifala is a favorite of the Vice Principal Mrs Kayode. I spoke to a couple of other teachers and they all confirmed this story and the Mr Oshifala’s tendencies. The teachers also mentioned that he had been reported before at the Abuja Headquarters for sexual harassment and he was almost sacked until he begged this same Vice Principal who squashed the complaints.I went to the vice principal myself and complained to her about my daughter’s issue. Mrs Kayode and anothe Vice Principal Mrs Njoku were both in the room when I entered. From the looks on their faces, I knew my daughter was telling the truth. Mrs Njoku soon left and it was just me and Mrs Kayode. She then told me (and these are her words) that even though my daughter was telling the truth, Oshifala is her man and he does a lot of work for her and there is nothing me or anyone can do to move him out of the school. She also turned around to threaten me that if I like, I can go to Abuja to report, nothing would happen. And that I should not forget that this is a government school so instead of her or Mr Oshifala being sacked, my daughter would be dismissed instead!!"

The claims went viral on social media last weekend forcing the college alumni to convene an emergency meeting on Sunday.

In a statement issued by the school after the meeting, Lami Amodu, the Principal,‎ said the claims was an attempt to ridicule, not just Mr Olaseni, but the “hard-earned reputation” of Queens College.

“When I resumed work as principal here, I was told of a certain matron who housed a person that had attempted to have an affair with a student,” Mrs. Amodu began.

“I was not here when it happened but as soon as I was told, I made sure that the matron was moved out of the school premises. I have zero tolerance for such behaviour. I have a daughter who schools here, even before I began work here. I will not take chances.

“As I talk to you, no single parent has come to me or any of my Vice-Principals to report Olaseni as a molester. I assure you that if the allegation was true, other parents would have been buzzing our lines non-stop. Children spread gossip fast. They would tell their parents or relations, if anyone was molesting them here. No parent would take such news lightly.

“When this news reached me, I summoned an emergency meeting of all the critical stakeholders. We all discussed before inviting Mr Osifala. Every one of my staff says positive things about the man. Of course they were all here (Queens College) before me, so they are qualified to assess members of staff properly.”

Mrs. Amodu said before her resumption at Queens College, a former principal of Kings College, Dele Olapeju, had recommended Mr. Oshilafa as a credible person to work with.

“Let us not forget that Olaseni worked with five different principals, all of who also told me good words about him, despite the various allegations against him,” she said.

“I have investigated and we are not relenting in our determination to get to the bottom of this case. The man in question has been of impeccable character and committed service since I resumed work here. I can vouch for him.

“When I resumed work here, I was told a few unsavoury things about him. But investigations showed that each time a new principal resumed at Queens College, these allegations popped up. They would tell every new principal that Mr Olaseni is a molester. But after investigations, nothing concrete came up. My predecessor, whom we just sent forth today, told me the same thing. So it has been a recurring decimal, these allegations.”

Mrs. Amodu said there was a campaign of calumny ‎against Mr. Osifala who happens to be “the best teacher in our school.”

“During World Teachers’ Day, he bagged five awards. The students all have good things to say about him. Somebody somewhere is up to some mischief and we will uncover this unfortunate drama,” the school principal said.

“We place a premium on the security and welfare of our girls. We are all mothers. We will not allow any staff to endanger girls in this school.”

The Chairperson of the school’s Parents-Teachers Association, B.E Akhetuamen, also said the claims were an attempt to pull down Mr. Oshifala.

“I have two daughters schooling here,” she said.

“After six years in the school, I should be able to trust them to intimate me about things that happen in the school, especially when I ask. They have made it clear to me, no such thing occurred. Meanwhile, no parent has called me to make any such allegation against the teacher in question and I find it very strange.”

Mrs. Akhetuamen said if such a thing had happened, the students themselves would have given the matter leverage.

“It would not have needed a blogger to break the story,” she said.

“There is a policy against use of phones in the college but we hear rumours that some students smuggle in phones. Do you imagine that such students would not have called their parents with the gist? And for all this time that the event allegedly occurred (one month now) do you think that no parent would have raised eyebrows?

“When I asked my daughter about this story, she said she only started hearing about it today. I am an Edo woman, I speak from my heart because I fear only God. Even if I face anybody now, I can defend him (Olaseni) authoritatively. I have always recommended him to every principal that was posted here.”

On claims that Mr. Oshifala assaulted the student near the boarding house, D. A Oludinmu, the Senior Boarding House Mistress at the school, admitted Mr. Osifala comes around the hostel because he is the Hostel Maintenance Officer.

“But there is a procedure for that,” she noted.

“He never comes without the permission of the principal and even during emergencies, he does not come alone. The principal still has to permit him, and he always comes with the maintenance boys.

“Mr Olaseni does not come to the hostel outside working hours. I can vouch for him.”

The school’s head girl said no male staff lives within the school compound.

“They also said they saw our teacher with alcohol after lights out. This cannot be true because he speaks against alcohol in class. He is our Biology teacher, not Integrated Science,” she said.

“Knowing him from J.S.S 1 to S.S. 3 now, I can say that the allegations are wrong. No, I just heard the story this morning. My statement cannot be doctored.

“Yes, we complain to him when we have problems in the hostel. These problems include bad electric bulbs, water problems, etc.”

The man at the centre of the storm, Mr. Osifala, said there’s no truth in the entire incident.

“I have been accused falsely. Students have openly confessed to being recruited to frame me up in the past,” he said.

“The teachers were there. They can tell you the truth. All I want is to be the best teacher I possibly can. The reason I always win the awards is a function of my drive for excellence.

“It ensures that I am always busy. My work is not secret. I am an open book. I know that whatever I say now will not matter to those who made up their minds to judge me. Let God take control.”

These sort of things have been going on in some Nigerian schools for ages.We all went to school and we see how certain teachers get close to certain students.The only difference is it was not blatant like this.Can you imagine a teacher taking a picture like this publicly with students 20 years ago? The students will be standing at attention,hand behind their back and the teacher also in an upright stance.I still cannot believe my eyes with that picture of the teacher with those young girls.That picture tells me that Oshifala has definitely abused his position.